A motor vehicle transmission typically uses interconnected gear elements and clutches to couple rotatable transmission input and output members, and to thereby establish a desired transmission speed ratio. Clutches may be configured as fluid-actuated devices having a series of spaced friction plates. A hydraulic piston is actuated so as to compress the friction plates together and thereby transfer torque across the engaged clutch, or to stop rotation of a side of the clutch and any interconnected gear elements or nodes. Plate clutches are typically controlled with a variable rate of slip, such that the state of the clutch can range from fully-applied to fully-released to anywhere in between.
In some transmissions, a binary clutch assembly having, e.g., a selectable one-way clutch, a freewheeling element, and/or a dog clutch, is used alone or in conjunction with the rotating and/or braking plate clutches noted above to establish one or more gear states. Unlike conventional plate clutches, a binary clutch assembly has just two possible states: fully-applied and fully-released. When applied, the binary clutch assembly is prevented from rotating in both rotational directions. When released, the binary clutch assembly freewheels in one rotational direction, and thus one side of the binary clutch may effectively slip with respect to the other side.